Dehydrator for petroleum emulsions and water-controlled systems for same



F. W. HARRIS.

' DEHYDRATOR FoR PETROLEUM EMuLsLoNs AMD WATER coNTRoLLED SYSTEM FoR SAME.

APPLICATIGN FILED APR. 30, |919- RENEWED MAY 31.1921.

Patented Jan. 3l, 1922.

. settle. It is a well known .fact that by sub-v of an electric current that the trapped Water globules`L will be agglomer/ated into larger vTo @all who/mit may con/cem: l

.waterpartie UNITED STATES PATENT v oFFlfIl--L' prom) HARRIS, 0E Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, AssIGfNoIt, EYA MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, To PETROLEUM EECTIEYING COMPANY, OE SAN FRANCISCO, CALI- EOItNIA7 -A CORPORATION OE oALIEoIaNIA.-

DEIIYDRATOR Eon rET'ImLEUnI EMULSIONS AND WATEIcfCONTIwLLEn SYSTEMS Eon SAME.

' Specification oi Letters Patent. `Patented 'Jan' .31, 1922.

Application ledlApril 30, 1919, Serial No. 294,001. Renewed. May 31, 1921. Serial No. 473,770.1

Be it known that I, FORD Rf-HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and` State of California, have invented a new and uSeful'Dehydrator for Petroleum Emulsions and Water-Control System for Same, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to dehydrators for' petroleum oils Crude petroleum as found in vnature is often associated with water, this water being in the form of small particles which may arbitrarily be divided into trapped water and free Water. The free are of suiiciently large sizel to -readily settle out'by gravity, but the trapped water is in the form of very fine globules which require a very long time to jecting petroleum emulsions to the action masses which will readi1y. settle` out. by gravity. l f

The object of the present invention is to provide means for .swbjectin vthe oil to electrical stresses and to provlde means by which the apparatus will be automatically cont-rolled. y i

Further objects and advantages will be made evidenthereinafter.

Referring to the" drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only, l

Fg. 1 is a section through a preferred form of dehydrator embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, and

Fig. 3 is a diagram of the same.

In the form of dehydrator shown in these drawings, a tank 11 is provid/ed having an oil inlet pipe 12 in the bottom thereof, this pipe having small perforations 13 through ywhich the oil lis forced into the tank, andi having a steam coil 14 controlled by a valve 15 immediately over the in let pipe 12. Suspended on insulators 20 in the top of thel tank are cross-members 21, these members having primaryl cylinders 22 and 23 secured therefrom. Cross-members 24am secured' -to the side of the tank and support secondary cylinders 26 and v27. A transformer 30 has one terminal 31 of its secondary con' nected to the members 2l, the ot h er terminal 32 being connected to the tank and through the members '24 to the secondary plates 26 and 27. The plates 22,23, 26 and 27 are' cylinders concentrically located withi relation to each other and with relation'to the walls of the tank.

'An oil outlet pipe40 is provided'nearthe top of thc tank through which cleanedV oil may be-withdrawn. Projecting through theV side of the tank is a closed cylinder which contains a fluid boiling at any desired point, y

say 180 degrees Fahrenheit.v This cylinder 50 is connected through a pipe 51 with a space 52 above diaphragm 53 in a tight diaphragm chamber 54. This diaphragm .is connected through a-stem 55 with a valve 56. g The valve 56is placed in a water outlet pipe 60 and is so'arranged that the valve 56 is closed at all times except-when pres-- Vsure is exerted o'n/the diaphragm 53 due to?v -the liquid-in 'the cylinder 50 boiling, at

which time the valve is Open..

The method of operation of my invention is as follows: v The crude oil containing both freeand trapped water is passed into the tank 11 through 'the pipe 12, the free water remaintransformer 30, the trapped water therein is agglomerated into larger masses which settle through the oil into the water in the bottom of the tank. This`water is ke thot Y by the steam coils 15. I have foun thatwhere a body of petroleum oil is heated by a body of water that there is a considerable temperature difference at the point of contact; for example, if the water is maintained at 180 degrees Fahr. and thev entering oil 'is delivered at a temperature of 120 de-A grees Fahr., the oil in the top of the tank may be degrees and ,the oil directly. I

above the vwater may be at a temperture of 130 degrees.

Suppose that liquid in the.

cylinder 50 has the proper boiling point to producel a pressure at say degrees Fahr. y

when operating under the above conditions.

Then so long as the cylinder'50 is in the oil labove the'water the temperature is so low ion' that the valve 56 remains closed. Whenever' y the hot Water rises sufficiently tomake con-- tact with the cylinder 50 the lliquid. therein boils thus acting on the diaphragm 53 and -the -valve 56 opens, draining out waterl from vthe. bottom of the tank. There is some Xtime lag in the operation of the apparatus lso that after sufficient Water is vdrawn out to lower the level considerably below the cylinder 50' the valve still remains open.

Eventually, however, cooler oil acting upon the thermostat closes the valve 56 and the cycle is repeated.

In practlce the oil entering the treater through the pipe 12 is maintained at from 15 20 to 40 degrees Fahr. lower temperature than the Water. As a consequence, circulatlon of oil takes placeA in and aroundl the plates, the oil being heated by the water rising through the plates and then falling y again along the walls of the tank.

I claim as my invention 1. A ydehydrator comprising a tank in which are disposed concentric cylinders adapted to alternate electric polarity and open 4at their tops and bottoms, electric energizing means having one pole connected to a plurality oit' said cylinders and having the other pole connected to a plurality of otherof said cylinders and insulated therefrom:

2i In a dehydrator a metallic` tank in which are mounteda plurality of concentric4 cylinders electrically connected and grounded and another plurality of other cylindersalternatel disposed between said rst named cy inders, said other cylinders being electrically connected to one polarity of an energizing electrical circuit, and said ener` gizing circuit the other pole of which is connected to ground, and insulating means betweenthe plurality of first named cylinranged in two sets inside said tank, one set being supportedirom above and the other set being supported from below, and means for insulating one of said sets from said tank.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my` hand at Los Angeles, California, this,

25th day of April, 1919.

1 FORD W. HARRIS.. 

